Effect of Utility Deregulation and Mergers on Consumer Welfare

<p>In the late 1990s, many U.S. states deregulated electric utilities, allowing for competition among power generators. Deregulated states then adopted retail choice programs, allowing customers to choose their power provider. In addition, a significant merger wave among large utilities ensued. How did these events impact consumer welfare? This study examines the effects of utility deregulation and mergers, by analyzing electricity price and output changes among deregulated and regulated states. I find that deregulation may have had a positive effect when states adopted certain measures, such as retail choice or fuel changes, that enhanced competition and lowered costs. Mergers also affected consumer welfare, with differential impacts found between the merger of generation firms versus the merger of generation and transmission companies. </p>

Effect of Utility Deregulation and Mergers on Consumer Welfare

<p>In the late 1990s, many U.S. states deregulated electric utilities, allowing for competition among power generators. Deregulated states then adopted retail choice programs, allowing customers to choose their power provider. In addition, a significant merger wave among large utilities ensued. How did these events impact consumer welfare? This study examines the effects of utility deregulation and mergers, by analyzing electricity price and output changes among deregulated and regulated states. I find that deregulation may have had a positive effect when states adopted certain measures, such as retail choice or fuel changes, that enhanced competition and lowered costs. Mergers also affected consumer welfare, with differential impacts found between the merger of generation firms versus the merger of generation and transmission companies. </p>

Applications of Interval Theory in the Evaluation and Decision Making of Power System Projects

With the utility deregulation and market operation in China, economic factor is becoming more and more important to the evaluation and decision making of power system projects. As an important characteristic of the electric market, uncertainty is an indispensable part of project evaluation and decision making. Considering that the traditional decision making theories fail to solve the uncertainty problem entirely, this paper applies the interval theory to evaluate and make decision on projects. The interval net present value (INPV) theory is used to conduct economic evaluation, and an interval analytic hierarchy process (IAHP) and interval binary programming based method is proposed to perform project decision-making. Case study has proved the effectiveness of the proposed method.